Allah says,
"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The metaphor of His
light is that of a niche in which there is a lamp, the lamp inside a
glass, the glass like a brilliant start, lit from a blessed tree, an
olive, neither of the east nor the west, its oil all but giving off
light even if no fire touches it. Light upon light! Allah guides to
His Light whoever He wills, Allah propounds metaphors for mankind and
Allah has knowledge of all things." [5]
This verse refers to the light of the innate nature covered by the
light of revelation; this is the condition of the person who has a
living, receiving heart. We have explained this verse, its subtleties
and lessons in detail in ourbook, Ijtima` al-Juyush al-Islamiyyah `ala
Ghazw al-Mu`attila wa'l-Jahmiyyah. [6]
Therefore, the person who has this type of attentive heart receives
the meanings of the Qur'an and readily accepts them so much so that it
seems as if the words have been inscribed in his heart and he is able
to recite them fluidly from memory.
Other people have hearts which fall below the level of those mentioned
above;their hearts are not as ready to receive the truth, they are not
completely alive, and their innate nature is not as refined.
Therefore, they stand in need of a witness who would differentiate the
truth from falsehood for them. In order to be guided, such a person
must pay the utmost attention to the Qur'an's words, he must devote
his heart to it, ponder it and comprehend its meanings, and only after
this will he come to realise that it is true.
The first type of person sees the truth of what he is invited to and
informed of with his own eyes. The second type of person has learned
that it is the truth, has certainty in it and is satisfied. The first
has attained the ranking of beneficence, ihsan and the second has
attained the ranking of faith, iman . Thefirst has attained `ilm
al-yaqin from which his heart has ascended to the degree of ` ayn
al-yaqin . The second has acquired that level of unwavering belief
which takes him out of the fold of disbelief and into the fold of
Islam. [7]
` Ayn al-Yaqin is of two categories: what is acquired in this world
and what is acquired in the Hereafter. In this world it is to the
heart what the beheld is to the eye. All thematters of the unseen
thatthe Messengers informed us of will be seen by the eye in the
Hereafter and the inner sight in this world; in both cases, this is
`ayn al-yaqin. 1 Qaf (50): 37 2 Ya Sin (36): 69-70 3 Ibn Qutaybah,
Gharibu'l-Qur'an, pg. 419 4 Saba' (34): 6 5 al-Nur (24): 35 6 Ibn
al-Qayyim, Ijtima`, pp. 6-12. He also discussed this verse in al-Wabil
al-Sayyib, pp. 65-68, I`lam al-Muwaqqi`in, vol. 1, pp. 205-209,
al-Sawa`iq al-Mursalah, vol. 3, pg. 8517 i.e. he has acquired the
station of `ilm al-yaqin/
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